Agricultural equipment such as a combine utilizes a head or other implement to perform various operations on a field. For example, combines may utilize an implement such as a harvester or header attached to a feeder to harvest a crop or other plant related matter. Generally, combines have hydraulic and/or electronic positioners which position the header and/or feeder based on the distance of the header from the surface upon which the header is operating. The operator raises or lowers the header to a particular elevation so that the header harvests the crop (header is engaged). The header remains engaged and harvests the crop along a path in the field until the combine must be turned around.
When the combine approaches the headlands of the field and is turned around, the header is raised to an elevation above the crop level (header is disengaged). Upon completion of the turn at the headlands and re-entry into the crop, the header is re-engaged and returned to its previous elevation for harvesting. Generally, it is useful to provide the operator indicia of the total area which has been harvested (total area over which the feeder has been engaged and the header has harvested a crop).
Heretofore, combines have included a mechanical or an analog area counters. These prior art area counters utilized a two-state contact switch (limit switch) to determine whether the feeder is in an engaged or disengaged position. The operator of the combine manually sets the vertical location of the switch so that it appropriately indicated the engaged or disengaged position. However, to vary the position of the switches, the operator was required to leave the interior of the combine and manually adjust or reset the vertical location of the switch when crops (e.g., wheat or corn) having different heights were harvested. These prior art area counters are also disadvantageous because the counters must be manually adjusted for different types of implements such as headers having different widths.
Accordingly, there is a need for a harvested area monitoring system which monitors the full range of implement positions and includes user interface which permits a user to adjust crop level setpoints and header widths from the interior of the combine.